Impact of the Covid-19 epidemic and related social distancing regulations on social contact and SARS-CoV-2 transmission potential in rural South Africa: analysis of repeated cross-sectional surveys.

ABSTRACT:

Background

South Africa implemented rapid and strict physical distancing regulations to minimize SARS-CoV-2 epidemic spread. Evidence on the impact of such measures on interpersonal contact in rural and lower-income settings is limited.

Methods

We compared population-representative social contact surveys conducted in the same rural KwaZulu-Natal location once in 2019 and twice in mid-2020. Respondents reported characteristics of physical and conversational ('close interaction') contacts over 24 hours. We built age-mixing matrices and estimated the proportional change in the SARS-CoV-2 reproduction number (R₀). Respondents also reported counts of others present at locations visited and transport used, from which we evaluated change in potential exposure to airborne

SUBMITTER: McCreesh N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8424154 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature